eye/ 


HTHE  MNMI>  ^ 

fflissiONAi^Y  Sermon 


BALTIMORE  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE 


ITS  NINETY-EIGHTH  SESSION, 


REV.  JOHN  F.  GOUCHER,  A . M . 


BALTIMORE  : 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  BOOK  DEPOSITORY, 
Rev.  D.  H.  Carroll,  Agent, 

No.  168  W.  Baltimore  St. 

1882. 


PREACHED  before  the 


DURING 


BY 


Published  by  the  Conference. 


HT'ME  MNMI> 


CQissionai^y  Sermon 

PREACHED  BEFORE  THE 

BALTIMORE  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE 

DURING 

ITS  NINETY-EIGHTH  SESSION, 

BY 


REV.  JOHN  F.  GOUCHER,  A.  M. 


Published  by  the  Conference. 


BALTIMORE  : 

METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  BOOK  DEPOSITORY, 
Rev.  D.  H.  Carroll,  Agent, 

No.  168  \V.  Baltimore  St. 

1882. 


Baltimore,  March  25,  1SS2. 

REV.  JNO.  F.  GOUCHER, 

Dear  Bro.  : — I am  instructed  to  forward  you  the  following  Resolu- 
tions. which  were  adopted  by  the  Baltimore  Annual  Conference  at  its  last 
session : 

Resolved,  that  we  have  listened  with  profound  attention  to  the  inter- 
esting and  instructive  discourse  on  “The  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,” 
and  that  we  request  Brother  Goucher  to  furnish  a copy  for  publication,  that 
it  may  be  circulated  through  the  bounds  of  our  Church. 

Signed,  JAMES  H.  BROWN, 

WM.  B.  EDWARDS. 

Resolved,  that  D.  H.  Carroll,  the  Agent  of  our  Book  Depository,  be 
appointed  to  receive  and  publish  the  Missionary  Sermon  preached  on  last 
Monday  by  Jno.  F.  Goucher. 

Very  truly  your  Brc., 

G.  G.  BAKER,  Rec.  Sec. 


REV.  G.  G.  BAKER,  Rec.  Sec.,  &c. 

Dear  Bro.: — Through  some  unaccountable  delay  I have  just  received 
your  communication  of  the  25th  ult.,  enclosing  a copy  of  the  Resolutions 
adopted  by  the  Baltimore  Annual  Conference,  requesting  a copy  of  the 
Missionary  Sermon  I had  the  honor  to  preach  before  that  body  at  its  last 
session. 

Appreciating  the  request,  I take  pleasure  in  placing  the  manuscript 
at  its  disposal. 

As  repeated  inquiries  have  been  made  concerning  a number  of  the 
facts  stated,  I have  thought  it  well  to  cite  some  of  the  authorities  to  whom 
I acknowledge  myself  indebted  for  the  statements  made. 

Cordially  and  fraternally, 

JNO.  F.  GOUCHER. 

Str.vwbridge  Parsonage, 

Baltimore-,  4,  17,  1882. 


“This  is  the  Victory  that  overcome™  the  World,  even  our  Faith.” 

I.  John  v,  4. 


/A  UR  text  formulates  and  emphasizes  a great  fact,  viz. : 


that  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  victorious  prin- 
* ciple  which  overcometh  the  world. 

The  Greek  word  vixr),  translated  “victory,”  is  used  by  me- 
tonymy for  victorious  principle. 

The  expression  “our  faith”  is  explained  in  v.  5 — “He  that 
believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God” — i.  e.,  has  personal  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ.  This  consists  in  the  assent  of  the  mind,  the 
reliance  of  the  heart  and  the  loyalty  of  the  will  to  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Saviour  King,  in  His  office  and  character.  This,  working 
by  love,  through  obedience,  unto  harmony  with  the  divine  will, 
transforms  the  individual  into  a “partaker  of  the  divine  nature” 
and  “laborer  together  with  God.” 

By  “world,”  or  xo'o>os,  is  meant  the  existing  order  of  things. 
Whatever  that  may  be,  material  or  spiritual,  or  both  combined, 
in  its  complexity  and  detail,  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the 
victorious  principle  which  overcometh  it. 

A.  That  this  must  be  so  we  might  argue: 


6 


I.  From  the  purpose  of  God  as  shown 

1.  In  the  creation  of  man, 

2.  In  his  redemption. 

II.  From  the  commands  of  God  to  man,  designating  his 
work — 

1.  In  its  character. 

2.  In  its  requirements. 

Ill  From  the  promises  of  God  to  man  concerning— 

1.  His  ability  to  do. 

2. -  His  success  in  doing  his  life-work. 

But  in  this  presence  such  argument  would  be  superfluous. 
Let  it  suffice  to  say : 

Man  was  originally  created  in  the  image  of  God,  king  of 
the  material  and  heir-presumptive  of  the  spiritual  domain. 

He  violated  the  constitution  under  which  he  held  his  au- 
thority, and  so  forfeited  his  dominion  and  inheritance. 

In  his  natural  condition,  man  antagonizes  Qod  and  is  out 
of  harmony  with  His  government. 

The  existing  order  of  things  is  out  of  harmony  with  man 
and  antagonizes  his  authority. 

For  the  existing  order  of  things  to  yield  obedience  to  man 
in  his  antagonism  to  God  would  be  to  range  itself  in  rebellion 
against  God. 

Personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  brings  the  soul  into  harmony 
with  God. 

For  the  existing  order  of  things  to  continue  antagonizing 
man  after  he  is  in  harmony  with  God  would  be  to  range  itself 
against  God,  hence,  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  victori- 
ous principle  which  overcometh  the  existing  order  of  things. 

B.  This  is  a fact  abundantly  illustrated  by  history. 


7 


I.  Considered  in  its  narrowest  application,  the  conflict  of 
the  human  soul  with  the  conditions  of  its  environment,  the  truth 
of  our  text  is  of  perpetual  demonstration.  Time  would  fail 
simply  to  catalogue  those  “who  through  faith  subdued  king- 
doms, wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises,  stopped  the 
mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge 
of  the  sword,  out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant 
in  fight,  turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens,  received  their 
dead  raised  to  life  again,  were  tortured,  not  accepting  deliver- 
ance, that  they  might  obtain  a better  resurrection”  and  “were 
more  than  conquerors  through  Him  that  loved  them.”  “For 
whatsoever  is  born  of  God  overcometh  the  world,”  and  this  is 
the  victorious  principle  which  overcometh  the  world,  even  our 
faith. 

II.  Upon  the  broader  battle-fields  of  the  world,  where 
nations  enter  the  lists  as  antagonists,  the  truth  of  our  text  is 
equally  manifest. 

i.  The  first  great  conflict  was  with  the  Jewish  Church. 
It  was  short,  determined,  decisive.  The  whole  prestige  and 
authority  of  the  Church  and  State  were  skillfully  massed  with 
deadliest  purpose  against  isolated  believers;1  and  whether  it 
was  Stephen,  Peter,  Paul,  or  whoever  it  might  be,  it  was  one  man 
against  the  Church.  Yet  this  doctrine  was  fearlessly  preached 
until  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrim,  in  their  impotent  wrath 
and  conscious  guilt,  cried:  “Behold,  you  have  filled  Jerusalem 
with  your  doctrine,  and  intend  to  bring  this  man’s  blood  upon 
us.”  “Beginning  from  Jerusalem”  it  passed  to  and  beyond  the 
farthest  confines  of  Judea,  and  wherever  Jews  abode  their  syna- 


i Acts  ix.  i,  2;  xxiii,  15. 


8 


gogues  furnished  the  first  congregations z and  their  proselytes 
the  first  converts  to  the  faith.3 

In  the  year  70,  August  10,  Jerusalem  was  destroyed'*  and 
the  Jews,  as  a nation  and  Church,  were  annihilated  and  scat- 
tered throughout  all  the  earth ; but  the  victory  which  overcame 
the  Jewish  Church  demonstrates  the  stability  of  its  conquest,  in 
that  believers  in  Christ  have  developed  into  strong  national 
lives,  and  to-day  the  oppressed  and  persecuted  Jew  seeks  and 
finds  his  defense,  safety  and  asylum  among  the  followers  of 
the  crucified  Nazarene. 

2.  The  second  great  conflict  was  with  the  Roman  Em- 
pire. It  was,  as  Tertullian  said,  for  “religious  liberty,” s or  the 
right  to  exercise  a personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  This  con- 
flict was  nothing  less  than  a revolution.  A few  of  the  com- 
mon people,  singly,  without  a history  or  literature,  except  a few 
traditions  concerning  a supposed  peasant  who  had  died  as  a 
malefactor ; without  a country ; without  power,  except  the 
power  of  a personal,  living  faith  in  Jesus  Christ;  without  organ- 
ization, except  the  unification  of  a common  love  and  a com- 
mon hope,  set  themselves  against  the  world,  denied  its  great- 
ness, despised  its  wealth,  defied  its  power. 

They  demanded  nothing  less  than  that  the  conqueror 
upon  a thousand  battle-fields  and  proud  empress  of  the  world, 


2 Acts  xiii.  5,  14;  xvii.  1,  2. 

3 Acts  xvii.  4;  xviii.  8.  Nicolas,  Lydia,  et  al. 

4 “Every  feature  of  this  siege  attests  it  to  be  a judgment  of  God... 
Men  appear  to  be  led  by  a mysterious  hand  which  urges  them  to  commit 
acts  not  within  their  original  intention.  The  great  truths  maintained  by 
St.  Paul  received  emphatic  sanction  from  this  terrible  event.” — Pressense, 
Apostolic  Era,  p.  402. 

5 Ad  Scapulam,  ch.  2.  Oxf.  Trans. 


9 


should  abandon  her  altars,  deny  her  faith,  contradict  her  phi- 
losophy, despise  her  history,  destroy  her  art  and  radically  and 
completely  reconstruct  her  national  life.  The  contestants  were 
radically  and  irreconcilably  opposed  to  each  other.6 7  The  su- 
premacy of  both  was  not  more  illogical  than  the  co-existence 
of  both.  The  conflict  was  for  life.  The  persecutions,  so  called, 
commenced  under  Nero,  legalized  by  Trajan,  and  continued  for 
250  years,  were  the  natural  and  logical  result  of  the  conditions 
existing.  We  need  not  dwell  upon  the  details  of  a struggle 
the  history  of  which  is  so  familiar  to  you  all.  It  illustrates 
“adequately  and  fully  how  this  faith  lives  by  death;  conquers 
by  what  seems  to  man’s  eyes  failures;  grows  by  repression;  is 
strong  in  its  weakness;  rich  in  its  poverty;  glorious  in  its  humilia- 
tion, because  it  is  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God. ”7 
On  June  13th,  A.  D.  313,  the  edict  of  Milan8 *  was  pub- 
lished in  Nicomedia,  and  went  into  force  throughout  the  Em- 
pire. Personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  was  the  victorious  principle 
which  had  overcome  the  existing  order  of  things.  Rome 
blazoned  its  symbol  on  her  banners,  taught  its  doctrines  in  her 
schools,  published  them  in  her  edicts  and  filled  her  offices 
with  its  devotees.  The  reaction  which  found  its  embodiment 
and  personification  in  the  most  subtle  and  bitter  enemy  Chris- 
tianity ever  had  among  the  emperors  was  of  short  duration,  and 
heard  its  complete  defeat  voiced  in  Julian’s  dying  cry;9  “Gali- 
lean, Thou  hast  conquered!”10 


6 Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathenism,  Uhlhorn,  pp.  231,  seq. 

7 The  World’s  Witness  to  Jesus  Christ.  Rt.  Rev.  J.  Williams,  D.  D. 
Lecture  II.,  p.  61. 

8 Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccl.,  x.  5.  9 A.  D.  363,  June  26. 

10  Theodoret,  Hist.  Eccl.,  Lib.  iii.,  ch.  25. 


IO 


III.  For  the  next  twelve  hundred  years  the  history  of  the 
world  is  little  else  than  the  history  of  the  Church,  but  the 
Church  had  became  worldly,  proud,  sensual,  and  dead  to  all 
spirituality,11  and  in  the  early  part  of  the  16th  century  the 
Roman  Church  ranged  itself  against  personal  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ , and  the  third  great  conflict  began.  Again  it  was  the 
world  against  the  individual,  and  the  watchword  of  the  individ- 
ual was  “justification  by  faith.”  This  doctrine  emphasized  per- 
sonal accountability,  and  after  the  severest  contest  and  most 
heroic  endurance,  it  stands  the  advocate  of  equal  rights,  the 
champion  of  human  liberty,  the  enemy  of  all  oppression,  the 
slayer  of  every  tyrant.  Republics  are  its  children,  the  open 
Bible  and  public  schools  a part  of  its  legacy.  Again  history  is 
true  to  the  statement  of  our  text. 

We  need-  not  recite  the  battles  fought  or  catalogue  the 
victories  won  by  Luther,  Zwingle,  Calvin,  Huss,  and  the  glori- 
ous throng  of  martyrs.  The  faith  for  which'  they  contended 
has  reconstructed  the  map  of  Europe,  transformed  its  govern- 
ments, conquered  the  existing  order  of  things,  and  is  still  con- 
tending successfully  with  the  giant  iniquity  of  the  centuries. 

In  the  year  1500  Europe  had  a population  of  100,000,000, 
of  whom  80,000,000  or  four-fifths  were  Roman  Catholic ; the  re- 
maining 20,000,000  were  members  of  the  Greek  Church  or  Moham- 
medans.12 In  the  year  1881  the  population  of  Europe  was  315,- 
929,000/3  of  whom  149,000,000  or  less  than  one-half  were  Roman 
Catholic,  and  nearly  one-fourth  or  74,000,000  were  Protestants ; that 
is,  during  the  last  three  hundred  and  eighty  years  the  population 

11  History  of  the  Reformation,  D’Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  Hook  2,  ch.  6. 

12  The  exact  number  was  101,800,000.  Progress  of  Nations,  Seaman, 

p,  551.  13  Behm  and  Wagner. 


of  Europe  increased  215,929,000  or  about  two  and  one-half  times  ; 
the  Roman  Catholic  population  increased  69,000,000,  only  seven- 
eighths  of  one  time,  or  about  five-twelfths  as  fast  as  the  entire 
population,  while  Protestantism  started  without  a member  and  in 
the  face  of  powerful  and  continued  opposition  gained  74,000,000,  or 
nearly  one  and  one-twelfth  times  as  many  as  Roman  Catholicism. 

In  England,  during  the  last  eighty  years,  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics increased  28  per  cent,  and  the  Protestants  120  per  cent.,14 
or  nearly  five  times  as  fast. 

France,  the  birth-place  of  continental  liberty,  is  free  and 
self-governing,  with  a better  prospect  than  she  has  ever  before 
enjoyed  of  retaining  her  dearly-won  privileges.  A system  of 
concurrent  endowments  prevails,  the  beneficiaries  under  which 
are  Catholics,  Protestants,  and  Jews, *5  and  all  religions  are 
equal  in  law.  She  has  assumed  the  control  of  her  schools, 
expelled  the  Jesuits,  legalized  civil  marriage,  and  promises  to 
rival  in  the  glory  of  gospel  successes  the  shame  of  the  massa- 
cre of  the  Huguenots,  and  to  celebrate  the  tercentenary  of  St. 
Bartholomew  as  a regenerated  nation. 

In  Germany,  but  36  per  cent,  of  the  population  are  Roman 
Catholic.16  In  July,  1872,  the  Jesuits  were  expelled  from  the 
Empire,  and  since  1873  all  aspirants  to  clerical  office  must 


14  Denominational  Statistics  (1878),  Robenstein. 

15  In  The  Budget  for  1879  these  allowances  were  as  follows: 


Roman  Catholic  prelates  and  clergy 41,508,295  francs. 

Roman  Catholic  churches  and  seminaries 10,205,400  “ 

Protestant  clergy 1,416,000  “ 

Jewish  rabbis 188,900  “ 

Protestant  and  Jewish  places  of  worship 80,000  “ 


— The  Statesman’s  Year-Book  for  1880. 


16  Idem. 


12 


study  theology  at  a State  University,  must  pass  a state  exami- 
nation, and  give  satisfactory  evidence  of  their  loyalty  to  the 
government.17  In  all  ecclesiastical  causes  the  decision  of  the 
royal  tribunal  is  final,  and  education  is  general  and  compul- 
• sory. 

Austria,  since  1867,  has  a constitutional  government  and  a 
system  of  direct  popular  elections.  The  State  religion  is  Roman 
Catholic,  but  there  is  complete  toleration  for  all  dissenters  from 
it,  of  whatever  form  of  belief.  She  no  longer  recognizes  mar- 
riage as  a sacrament  of  the  Church,  but  has  legalized  the  civil 
contract.  She  has  withdrawn  from  the  Church  the  control  of 
her  schools;  is  loyal  to  the  cause  of  free  education,18  obliging 
all  children  from  6 to  12  years  of  age  to  attend  school,  and 
allows  freedom  of  the  press  — proceedings  which  the  grieved 
pope  condemned  as  “abominable.”- 

Spain  is  open  to  the  preacher  of  a pure  gospel  and  re- 
stricted liberty  of  worship  is  allowed.  Bible  - carts  roll  from 
Madrid  in  every  direction,  but  cannot  supply  fast  enough  the 
increasing  demand.  The  government  has  taken  charge  of  the 
instruction  of  the  people, ’9  legalized  civil  marriage,  and  even 
offered  the  persecuted  Jew  an  asylum  within  her  borders. 

Italy  stands  before  the  world  a great  and  united  nation  in 
the  full  enjoyment  of  constitutional  liberty.  She  has  provided 
munificently  for  education  ;2°  secured  perfect  religious  freedom 

17  The  19th  Century,  Mackenzie,  pp.  450,  451. 

18  The  Statesman’s  Year-Book,  1880. 

19  Idem. 

20  "Under  the  new  Italian  government,  a great  part  of  the  property 
confiscated  from  the  monastic  establishments  has  been  devoted  to  the  cause 
of  public  education,  for  which,  besides  an  annual  credit  of  15,000,000  lire 
or  $3,000,000,  is  voted  by  the  Parliament.” — Idem. 


13 


to  the  adherents  of  all  creeds  without  exception  ; taken  from 
the  pope  his  last  vestige  of  temporal  power ; laughs  at  his 
innocuous  anathemas,  mocks  his  superstitions  and  Protestant 
churches  live,  grow  and  have  their  being  within  the  shadow 
of  St.  Peter’s.  Once  Rome  could  prevent  progress ; now  she 
but  wearies  herself  with  her  senile  curses. 

The  evidences  of  victory  are  not  less  apparent  in  favored 
America.  In  the  year  1765,  the  population  of  Canada  and 
Eastern  British  America21  was  86  per  cent.  Roman  Catholic, 
and  only  14  per  cent.  Protestant.  In  1871,  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic population  had  decreased  to  less  than  43  per  cent.,  and  the 
Protestant  population  had  increased  to  nearly  57  per  cent. — 
that  is,  in  about  one  hundred  years,  the  Roman  Catholics  had 
lost  nearly  43  per  cent.,  and  the  Protestants  had  gained  nearly 
43  per  cent,  of  the  population. 

In  Mexico,  the  change  has  been  even  more  remarkable. 
The  inquisition,  with  all  its  horrors,  existed  until  within  a quar- 
ter of  a century,  and  less  than  a generation  ago  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  in  that  country  was  the  richest  ecclesiastical  estab- 
lishment in  the  world.22  The  Bible  was  introduced  by  our  soldiers 
during  the  war  of  1847,  and  since  that  time  the  orders  of  friars,  nuns, 
sisters  of  charity,  and  the  Jesuits  have  all  been  disbanded  and 
abolished,  and  the  magnificent  churches  and  convent  buildings, 
formerly  occupied  by  those  orders,  have  been  offered  for  sale 
by  the  general  government.  In  1874,  all  forms  of  worship 


21  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,  Dorchester,  p.  44. 

22  Her  landed  property,  mortgages,  and  rents  were  worth  $150,000,- 
000,  besides  untold  millions  invested  in  cathedrals,  gold  and  silver  vessels, 
etc.  The  annual  income  of  the  archbishop  at  one  time  was  $130,000. 
— Idem.,  p.  409. 


H 


were  made  lawful,  and  to-day  there  is  religious  liberty  so  far 
as  this  can  be  controlled  by  the  government. 

South  America  is  being  traversed  in  every  direction  by 
colporteurs,  and  Bible  study  has  stimulated  the  people  of  that 
land  to  repeat  to  the  Protestant  Churches  of  the  United  States 
and  of  Europe  the  Macedonian  cry:  “Come  over  and  help  us!” 

In  the  United  States  in  1880,  the  population  was  50,155,- 
783; 23  of  these  6,367 ,330, 2*  or  less  than  13  per  cent.,  were 
Roman  Catholic,  and  35, 230, 870, 23  or  more  than  69  per  cent., 
were  Protestants.  During  the  ten  years  from  1870  to  1880, 
the  entire  population  increased  11,597,412;  the  Protestant  popu- 
lation increased  11,873,984,  or  276,572  more  than  the  aggre- 
gate gain  of  the  nation?6  while  the  Roman  Catholic  popula- 
tion gained  only  1,767,330. 

Going  back  to  the  beginning  of  our  history  and  calcula- 
ting the  original  Roman  Catholic  stock,  which  entered  this 
country,  and  their  descendants,  if  all  had  'remained  true  to 
Romanism,  the  aggregate  would  make  a Roman  Catholic  pop- 
ulation of  26,000,000;  but  their  “Year-Book”  for  1881  gives 
the  total  Roman  Catholic  population  as  6,367,330,  which  is 
632,670  less  than  Catholic  immigration  during  the  past  30 
years  and  their  natural  increase.27  By  their  own  acknowledg- 

23  Amer.  Almanac,  1882.  24  Roman  Catholic  Year-Book,  1881. 

25  The  number  of  communicants  in  the  various  Protestant  denomi- 
nations, as  compiled  by  Dr.  Dorchester,  is  10,065,963.  This  multiplied  by 
3j4  will  give  a close  approximation  to  the  Protestant  population. — Problem 
of  Religious  Progress,  pp.  542,  543. 

26  “ In  1800  there  was  one  evangelical  communicant  in  14.50  inhabi- 
tants in  the  whole  country.  In  1850,  one  in  6.57  inhabitants.  In  1870,  one 
in  5.78  inhabitants.  In  1880,  one  in  5 inhabitants:  three  communicants  in  the 
same  number  of  inhabitants  where  there  was  one  in  1800.” — Dr.  Dorchester. 

27  Problem  of  Religious  Progress. — Dorchester,  pp.  437  et  seq. 


15 

merit,  “ this  country  is  the  biggest  grave  for  Popery  ever  dug 
on  earth." 

The  editor  of  “The  Celt,”  lecturing  in  Ireland,  advised 
his  countrymen  to  “stay  at  home,  because  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  loses  60  per  cent,  of  the  children  of  Roman  Catholic 
parents  in  the  United  States.” 

“The  Tablet,”  of  New  York  City,  said  a short  time  since: 
“Few  insurance  companies,  we  venture  to  assert,  would  take 
the  risk  on  the  national  life  of  a creed  which  puts  Jive  hun- 
dred daily  into  the  grave  for  one  it  wins  over  to  its  communion, 
and  yet  this  is  what  the  Catholic  Church  is  doing  in  these 
States  while  we  write.” 

The  church  edifices  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  during 
20  years,  from  1850  to  1870,  increased  2,584;  those  of  the 
various  bodies  bearing  the  name  of  Methodist,  9,035  — or  more 
than  three  and  one-half  times  as  fast.28 

The  Roman  Catholic  priests  during  30  years,  from  1850  to 
1880,  increased  5,100;  the  ordained  ministers  of  the  Methodist 
bodies,  15,430  — or  more  than  three  times  as  fast.2? 

An  intelligent  Roman  Catholic  layman  in  Boston,  not  many 
years  ago,  said:  “We  shall  hold  our  ground  for  a while,  but 
we  understand  that  in  the  fight  of  a hundred  years  we  shall  be 
whipped.”  The  Lord  grant  it  in  less  than  a hundred  years ! 
If  we  do  our  duty,  it  will  be  so.  The  Rock  of  Ages  furnishes 
the  fulcrum,  and  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  a grander  lever 

28  “ Those  of  the  several  bodies  bearing  the  name  Baptist  increased 
4.399,  while  the  total  increase  in  Evangelical  Protestant  church  edifices  for 
the  same  time  was  21,617,  or  8 '/$  as  many  as  the  Roman  Catholic.” — Idem. 

29  ‘‘The  ordained  ministers  of  the  various  Presbyterian  bodies  in- 
creased 4,276;  of  the  Baptist  bodies  11,428,  and  of  all  evangelical  denomi- 
nations 44,315.” — Idem. 


i6 


than  that  of  which  Archimedes  thought,  by  which  the  world  is 
being  moved  to  a higher,  truer  life. 

4.  The  fourth  great  conflict  may  be  said  to  have  com- 
menced in  the  latter  part  of  the  18th  century,  and  is  still  raging. 
With  this  we  have  more  than  an  historic  interest.  We  are 
parties  to  and  must  be  factors  in  it.  It  involves  the  same  issues 
as  the  conflicts  with  the  Roman  Nation  and  the  Roman  Church; 
but  the  conception  of  its  central  idea  is  broader,  deeper,  and 
more  sublime.  Again  it  is  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  against 
the  world.  In  former  conflicts  the  faith  was  more  or  less  de- 
fensive. In  this  one  it  is  aggressive  both  in  spirit  and  method. 
The  weapons  of  its  warfare  “are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through 
God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strongholds ; casting  down  imagi- 
nations and  every  high  thing  that  exalteth  itself  against  the 
knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing  into  captivity  every  thought 
to  the  obedience  of  Christ.”  It  goes  into  all  the  world  ; it  has 
to  do  with  every  creature ; it  brooks  no  opposition ; it  leaves 
no  intrenchment  of  sin  or  ignorance  unattacked ; it  despises  no 
force,  refuses  no  ally  which  will  be  loyal  to  it;  its  spirit  is  mis- 
sionary ; its  authority  is  the  command  of  God ; its  watchword, 
Christ  for  all  the  world  and  all  the  world  for  Christ ; its  unit 
factor,  personal  consecration;  its  inspiration,  love;  its  destiny, 
complete  victory — “For  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the 
world,  even  our  faith.”  The  Christianity  of  to-day  is  the  em- 
bodiment of  this  victorious  principle.  In  no  previous  age  has 
the  necessity  of  personal  faith  been  so  insisted  upon.  Never 
before  was  the  personal  element  so  prominent  among  the  world’s 
forces,  and  never  has  Christendom  given  such  varied  demonstra- 
tion of  the  truth  of  our  text  as  it  does  to-day. 

“All  the  original  discoveries  of  science,  all  the  original  in- 


17 


ventions  in  art,  are  the  work  of  Christian  men.  Infidels  have 
made  contributions  thereto,  but  they  have  not  reached  the  grand- 
eur of  originality.  It  was  the  Christian  Copernicus  who  gave  us 
the  true  system  of  the  stars, ”3°  and  the  Christian  Newton  who 
formulated  the  law  of  attraction  of  gravitation.  “ It  was  the 
Christian  Gutenberg  who  gave  to  the  world  the  art  of  print- 
ing,” and  the  Missionary  Dyer  who  substituted  the  metal  type 
for  the  wooden  block,  and  the  first  book  printed  by  the  metal 
as  with  the  wooden  types  was  the  Bible.  “ It  was  the  Christian 
Watts  who  gave  to  commerce  steam  as  a motor-power,  and  the 
Christian  Morse  who  gave  to  the  thought  of  the  world  the 
telegraph.” 

In  1877,  at  a reunion  of  naturalists  at  Cologne,  a Berlin 
savant  and  professor  said:  “Paradoxical  as  the  utterance  may 
seem,  modern  science  owes  its  origin  to  Christianity.” 

In  the  report  of  the  French  Commission  on  the  Exposition 
of  1851  we  find  a manufacturer  saying:  “The  Exposition  has 
proved  to  all  the  world  that  industry  really  exists  only  in 
Christian  countries.”^1  He  meant,  of  course,  the  great  industries, 
those  which  deal  with  the  wonders  of  mechanism  and  the  use 
of  natural  agents. 

Personal  faith  in  Christ  somehow  rouses  in  man  those 
forces  which  take  on  and  then  give  out  the  impulses  by 
which  dominion  is  attained  over  the  existing  order  of  things. 

Water  has  been  curbed  in  its  wild  fury  and  has  become 
man’s  restive  but  constrained  servitor.  It  is  harnessed  to  his 
freight-cars  and  passenger-coaches ; it  is  chained  to  his  looms  and 
mills;  it  is  compelled  to  clear  away  the  obstructions  which  in 


30  Dr.  Newman. 


31  Cited  by  Naville,  The  Christ. 


i8 


past  centuries  it  had  deposited  in  his  harbors;  it  bears  upon  its 
restive  back  the  argosies  and  navies  of  every  nation.  It  has 
been  trained  in  his  cities  to  attend  his  pleasure,  and  but  press 
the  spigot,  and  it  comes  leaping  forth,  sparkling  and  joyous  as 
when  it  first  slipped  from  its  rocky  cradle  in  the  distant  hills. 

The  air  is  understood  in  its  capricious  moods,  and  when 
the  fierce  Northeaster  comes  stealing  down  upon  our  coast, 
rushing  to  destroy  the  shipping,  it  finds  the  storm  signal  has 
heralded  its  approach,  and  the  offing  is  cleared  of  vessels. 
It  has  been  captured  and  confined  in  more  narrow  limits,  and 
as  compressed  air  it  is  sent  beneath  mountains  to  tunnel  roads 
for  commerce,  beneath  the  water  to  clear  obstructions  from  the 
path  of  navigation,  and  in  the  sand-blast  it  removes  the  stains 
of  time  or  etches  in  enduring  rock  the  fancies  of  man’s  brain. 

Electricity , that  fiery  bird  of  the  heavens,  has  been  trained 
to  speed  along  its  narrow  path,  and  as  man’s  swift-winged  mes- 
senger it  soars  over  mountains,  darts  into  valleys,  sweeps  over 
plains  or  dives  under  the  ocean,  almost  annihilating  time  and 
space  — appropriate  messenger  of  thought.  It'  has  been  taught 
to  speak,  and  imitates  the  voice  of  man,  repeats  with  startling 
distinctness  the  otherwise  inaudible  sounds  of  nature,  and  regis- 
ters the  otherwise  imperceptible  conditions  of  heat  in  nature’s 
moods  and  stellar  fires. 

The  sunshine , so  coy,  so  subtle,  has  been  wooed  to  impart 
the  secret  process  by  which  it  tints  the  sea-shell,  pencils  the 
wild  flower,  colors  the  floating  cloud,  and  makes  the  landscape 
glow  in  summer  and  sparkle  in  winter  with  such  varying  hues, 
and  now  she  works  contentedly  in  the  artist’s  studio,  reproduc- 
ing these  effects  as  he  wills.  Surely,  where  personal  faith  in 
Christ  attains,  man  is  subduing  the  earth  as  God  commanded; 


i9 


and  in  the  palace  of  his  power  he  is  attended  by  water,  his 
broad  - shouldered  porter ; electricity,  his  nimble-footed  messen- 
ger ; air,  his  ready-handed  miner ; sunshine,  his  versatile  and 
accomplished  artist ; and  a long  retinue  of  other  servitors,  over 
which  the  victorious  principle  of  our  text  has  restored  to  him 
the  dominion. 

The  aggressiveness  of  Christianity  or  of  personal  faith  in 
Christ  is  particularly  manifested  in  its  missionary  enterprise , and 
its  influence  on  the  moral  education  of  nations  is  the  great  fact 
of  modern  times.  It  has  not  completed  its  victory  among  the 
nations,  but  there  are  many  evidences  that  it  is  conquering  and 
to  conquer. 

At  the  commencement  of  this  century  there  were  but  7 
missionary  societies  in  existence.  They  had  but  170  male  agents, 
and  of  these  about  100  were  Moravians.  All  told,  there  were  not 
more  than  50,000  converted  heathen  under  the  care  of  Evangeli- 
cal Missions.32  Since  then,  in  Europe  and  America  alone,  there 
have  been  organized  63  strong  societies,  or  an  average  of  one 
for  every  15  months,  and  these  70  societies  employ  2,600  or- 
dained Europeans  and  Americans,  and  about  45,000  Christian 
workers  are33  toiling  to  extend  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the 
saints.  There  are,  in  addition  to  these,  many  independent  so- 
cieties in  the  British  Colonies  — such  as  Sierra  Leone,  Cape 
Colony,  Australia ; some  in  the  East  Indies ; and  there  are  not 
a few  native  missionary  societies — such  as  those  of  Madagascar, 
the  Hawaiian  Evangelical  Society,  the  societies  in  Ponape,  the 
Caroline  Archipelago,  et  al.34 


32  Foreign  Missions,  Dr.  Christlieb,  pp.  13,  15, 

33  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,  Dorchester,  p.  487  et  seq. 

34  W.  F.  Bainbridge,  in  “ Around  the  World  Tour  of  Christian  Mis- 


20 


Denominations  are  drawing  more  closely  together.  The 
Evangelical  Alliance,  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations,  Sun- 
day-School Assemblies,  Inter-Seminary  Missionary  Conventions, 
and  similar  enterprises;  the  concentration  of  Christianity  on  par- 
ticular points  of  the  line,  such  as  dueling,  the  ordeal,  torture, 
slavery,  war,  intemperance,  polygamy,  Sabbath  observance,  edu- 
cation, the  condition  of  women  and  children,  the  relief  of  the 
helpless  and  afflicted,  all  show  that  Christian  workers  are  mass- 
ing like  divisions  of  a great  army  organized  for  united  ad- 
vance. The  time  for  denominational  differentiation  seems  to  be 
happily  past,  and  Pan- Anglican  and  Pan- Presbyterian  Councils, 
and  Methodist  Ecumenical  Conferences  reveal  a spirit  of  con- 
centration which  argues  victory. 

Christianity  possesses  the  strategic  points  of  the  earth  from 
which  to  advance. 

England,  the  key  to  Europe  and  the  mistress  of  the  seas, 
was  at  one  time  missionary  territory.  For  what  grand  purposes, 
through  what  severe  conflicts,  and  by  what  wonderful  providences 
has  she  developed,  maintained,  and  purified  her  Protestantism ! 

Christian  thought  and  Christian  morals  are  more  potent  in 
shaping  the  policy  of  her  government  to-day  than  at  any  pre- 
vious time  in  her  history.  She  is  the  oldest  sister  in  the  family 
of  Protestant  nations,  and  she  does  the  oldest  sister’s  share.  She 
contributes  $3,500,000  of  the  $8,000,000  annually  contributed  for 
Foreign  Mission  work;  that  is,  nearly  three  times  as  much  as  the 
Roman  Catholic  Propaganda  raises  in  the  world, 35  and  one  and  one- 
half  times  as  much  as  the  Protestants  of  America  contribute. 

sions,”  gives  a list  of  194  Protestant  Foreign  Missionary  Societies  in  active 
operation,  p.  454  et  seq. 

35  ....The  entire  receipts  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Association  for 


21 


America  seems  destined  to  be  the  key  to  the  world.  Our 
relative  position  to  Asia,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Europe,  on  the 
other,  is  like  that  of  Palestine,  where  of  old  God  placed  His 
chosen  people.  Through  this  land  the  lines  of  travel  and  com- 
merce must  ever  flow.  Here  the  great  intellectual  forces  and 
social  influences  will  find  their  battle-ground,  as  the  nations  of  an- 
cient times  met  from  all  quarters  to  do  battle  upon  the  plains  of 
Esdraelon.  Our  mission  is  from  this  center  to  radiate  truth,  ex- 
hibit liv  ing  illustrations  ot  virtue,  and  proclaim  righteousness  to 
all  nations. 

How  remarkably  does  our  history  reveal  personal  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  power  securing  every  step  in  our  national 
advancement! 

Queen  Isabella,  because  of  her  personal  faith  in  Jesus,  gave 
the  intrepid  Columbus  such  patronage  as  led  to  the  discovery  of 
this  land.  It  was  settled,  because  of  the  loyalty  of  the  Puritan’s 
conscience  to  the  same  Christ. 

The  Alliance  of  the  six  Nations  with  the  English  against  the 
French,  secured  largely  by  missionary  effort,  turned  the  scale  of 
our  country’s  destiny  from  a French  Catholic  to  an  English 
Protestant  civilization. 

Rev.  Dr.  Kirkland,  by  personal  influence,  held  the  Oneidas 
from  joining  the  armies  of  Britain  during  the  Revolutionary  War, 
and  largely  aided  in  securing  our  independence. 

In  1843,  Rev.  Dr.  Whitman,  a missionary,  by  the  most  re- 
markable effort  and  endurance,  saved  Oregon  and  the  whole  val- 
ley of  the  Columbia  River  from  being  pre-occupied  by  English 


the  propagation  of  the  faith  from  all  parts  of  the  world  were  only  $1,204,- 
005  in  1S80.  Of  this  amount  Europe  contributed  $1,178,225.  America  gave 
less  than  $22,000,  but  received  $130,435. 


22 


traders  and  French  Jesuits,  and  being  traded  off  for  a cod- 
fishery. 

The  Methodist  itinerant,  the  frontier  local  preacher,  and 
the  class-leader  in  backwoods  and  savannahs  have  prosecuted 
and  are  prosecuting  their  work  side  by  side  with  the  pioneers 
and  surveyors,  and  almost  every  village,  hamlet,  and  cross- 
road is  leavened  with  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  from  the 
time  of  its  location.  Our  very  existence  as  a nation  is  a grand 
triumph  of  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  working  out  into  indi- 
vidual equality  and  responsibility.  “ Righteousness  exalteth  a 
nation.” 

The  Island  Kingdom  of  Japan,  the  England  of  Asia,  is  be- 
ing permeated  with  Christianity,  and  presents  the  most  marvel- 
ous transformation  recorded  in  history.  She  has  broken  away 
from  the  exclusiveness  of  2300  years  to  liberalize  her  govern- 
ment, to  educate  her  people,  to  disestablish  the  heathen  religion, 
and  to  Christianize  her  civilization.  This,  too,  not  because  of  any 
pressure  from  without,36  but  voluntarily  the  Mikado  and  Daimios 
resigned  their  hereditary  prerogatives,  rose  above  their  supersti- 
tions, disbanded  their  armies,  adjusted  their  finance,  crushed  a 
gigantic  rebellion,  organized  a comprehensive  school  system, 
adopted  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and  appointed  a transliterated 
Chinese  version  of  the  New  Testament  to  be  a text-book  in  their 
schools.  Christian  influences  are  organizing,  and  are  welcomed 
by  the  government  and  the  people,  and  the  day  of  her  redemp- 
tion is  dawning. 

Another  of  the  great  strategic  points  occupied  in  our  day 
is  Madagascar.  After  her  coronation  in  1868,  the  queen  was 


36  The  Mikado’s  Empire.  W.  E.  Griffiss.  Book  I.,  ch.  28. 


23 


baptized  by  a Christian  teacher.  Idols,  instruments  of  incan- 
tation and  of  idol-worship  were  brought  from  temples  and 
from  huts,  stacked  in  the  public  square  and  consumed  as  a 
burnt-offering,  and  Christianity  proclaimed  the  religion  of  the 
island.  There  were,  at  that  time,  21,000  professed  Christians. 
In  two  years  there  were  231,000.  The  number  reached  280,- 
000,  but,  after  much  sifting,  it  was  reduced  to  233,000,  of 
whom  70,125  are  church-members.  She  has  her  native  missionary 
societies  and  is  doing  noble  work  in  preventing  Mohammedanism 
from  sweeping  over  the  islands  of  the  Ethiopian  Archipelago. 

I may  not  speak  particularly  of  Australia,  the  Fiji  Islands, 
or  the  Hawaiian  group,  no  longer  fields  for  foreign  mission 
work,  but  Christianized  and  pushing  with  vigor  and  success  the 
mission  cause  through  native  agents.  Nor  of  the  500  islands 
of  the  South  and  Indian  Seas,  whose  cannibal  inhabitants  have 
received  the  gospel  of  peace  and  are  manifesting  the  triumphs 
of  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  The  more  than  6,000  centers 
or  principal  stations  where  Christianity  has  intrenched  herself  in 
heathen  lands  and  the  more  than  14,000  outposts  of  her  ever- 
advancing  frontier  look  like  the  occupancy  of  an  army  of  subjuga- 
tion, which  proposes  to  conquer  and  to  hold  the  world  for  Christ. 

The  Languages  of  the  world  have  been  mastered.  This 
means  a great  deal.  There  is  something  painful  in  the  story 
of  the  first  workers  among  the  Zulus,  waiting  and  laboring  for 
months  to  discover  the  key  which  should  unlock  the  grammar. 
Words  were  known,  but  not  the  construction ; yet  personal 
faith  endured  till  victory  was  attained. 

In  1836,  Dr.  J.  Perkins  was  the  first  to  reduce  the  modern 
Syriac  to  writing.  As  he  taught  his  first  class  to  read  the 
Lord’s  Prayer,  he  could  appreciate  why  Dr.  Chalmers  pro- 


24 


nounced  the  Indian  boy  in  the  woods  learning  to  read,  the  sub- 
limest  object  in  the  world ; and  when  he  laid  the  first  printed 
proof  of  the  Bible  before  his  assistants,  they  exclaimed : “ It  is 
time  to  give  glory  to  God.” 

History  proves  that  nothing  so  much  elevates  and  settles  a 
language  as  a good  version  of  the  Bible.  One  thousand  years 
have  elapsed  since  the  Bible  was  translated  into  the  Sclavonic, 
and  our  knowledge  of  Germanic,  Sclavonic,  Armenian,  and,  I 
may  say,  English, 37  begins,  like  that  of  many  a dialect  of 
to-day,  through  a version  of  the  Bible.  There  is  now  scarcely 
a nation  on  the  face  of  the  earth  where  missionaries  of  the 
Cross  have  not  been  sent;  scarcely  a language,  whether  un- 
inflected, inflected,  or  agglutinated,  which  the  missionaries  have 
not  used.  Sixty  or  seventy  languages  which  had  no  literature 
or  alphabet  have  been  reduced  to  writing  by  them,  and  the 
Bible,  or  parts  of  it,  has  been  translated  into  and  printed  in 
316  languages  and  dialects.38  The  miracle'  of  Pentecost  but 
shadowed  forth  a part  of  the  victory  of  personal  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ,  by  which  the  sundering  power  of  sin,  as  developed  at 
Babel,  should  be  counteracted  and  “all  men  of  every  nation  un- 
der heaven  should  hear  the  gospel  of  Jesus,  every  man  in  his 
own  tongue  wherein  he  was  born.” 

Day-schools  and  Sunday-schools  have  been  organized  by 
the  thousands  and  ten  thousands,  and  are  instructing  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  all  ages  and  both  sexes. 


37  English  literature  began  with  our  English  It ible.  There  was  none 
before  the  time  of  Wickliffe,  and  Chaucer  gives  evidence  of  having  read 
Wickliffe’s  version  of  the  Scriptures. — Missions  and  Science,  Dr.  Laurie,  p.  228. 

38  Annual  Report,  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  Berlin  Branch, 
1879,  p.  67. 


25 


The  Greek  Testament  in  the  ancient  tongue  is  now,  by 
order  of  the  Greek  government,  read  in  its  1200  schools,  which 
have  80,000  pupils,  and  directly  or  indirectly,  the  children  of 
nearly  the  whole  world,  like  Israel  at  Hezekiah’s  Passover,  are 
being  “taught  the  good  knowledge  of  the  Lord.” 

A fund  of  experience  has  been  acquired.  Confidence  has 
been  developed.  Famine,  war,  pestilence,  bigotry,  and  persecu- 
tion have  combined  to  destroy,  but,  as  of  old,  they  have  only 
furnished  the  conditions  under  which  the  transcendent  beauties 
and  power  of  Christianity  shone  more  resplendently. 

Thousands  of  ordained  native  preachers,  together  with  un- 
ordained native  helpers,  evangelists,  teachers,  female  assistants, 
colporteurs,  Sunday-school  teachers,  etc.,  aggregating  75,000, 
have  been  raised  up  and  are  quietly  witnessing  to  and  teaching 
the  overcoming  power  of  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

The  solitary  have  been  set  in  families,  and  thousands  of 
native  Christian  homes  reflect  the  domestic  virtues  and  joys  of 
Paradise  regained. 

1,650,000  converts  have  been  secured  in  heathen  lajids  since 
1800.59  These  were  not  secured  by  thousands  or  in  tribes,  but 
through  individual  instruction  and  conviction,  personal  repent- 
ance toward  God,  and  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  These  are 
all  communicants.  If  you  multiply  the  number  by  fk  the  result 
will  represent  the  Christian  population  created  equal  to  5,775,000; 
more  by  three-quarters  of  a million  than  the  number  gained  in 
the  first  300  years  of  the  Christian  era.+° 

The  Christian  population  of  the  world  in  1800  was  200,000,- 

39  Foreign  Missions,  Dr.  Christlieb,  p.  16. 

40  Dr.  Sharon  Turner,  in  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  gives  the  sta- 
tistics of  the  early  periods: — 


26 


ooo;  in  1880,  410, 900, 000, 41  i.  e.,  the  gain  in  the  last  80  years 
is  more  than  the  gain  of  the  1800  years  which  preceded  them 
with  the  gain  of  the  first  400  years  added  to  it. 

Christianity  has  a larger  following  than  any  other  religion 
on  earth,42  and  it  is  advancing  with  more  rapid  strides  than  ever 
before.43  In  1878,  there  were  more  than  60,000  communicants 
added  to  the  Christian  Church  through  Protestant  missions  in 
heathen  lands,  and  less  than  twenty  persons  gave  more  than 
$4,000,000  for  the  support  of  Christian  missions. 

Christian  missions  have  made  a history  which  demonstrates 
the  character  and  value  of  their  work. 

Tribes  have  been  kept  from  extinction;  nations  have  been 
created  and  developed;  the  administration  of  law  has  been  made 


1st  Century 

10th  Century 

2d  “ 

2,000,000 

Ilth  “ 

3d  “ 

I2th  “ 

4th  “ 

13th  “ 

5 th  “ 

14  th  “ 

6th  “ 

15  th 

7th  “ 

tilth 

8th  “ 

17th  “ 

Qth  “ 

1 8th 

. 70,000,000 
. 80,000,000 
. 75,000,000 
. 80,000,000 
. 100,000,000 
.125,000,000 
.155,000,000 
. 200,000,000 


Prof.  A.  J.  Schem. 

The  most  recent  estimate  (1882)  of  adherents  to  various  religions 


41 

42 

gives — 

Buddhists  340,000,000 

Mohammedans  201,000,000 

Brahmins 175,000,000 

Followers  of  Confucius 80,000,000 

— A.  R.  Spofford,  Librarian  of  Congress. 

43  “ Nearly  seven  times  the  number  of  people  are  under  the  control 

of  Christian  nations  as  at  the  opening  of  the  iGth  Century,  when  Protest- 
antism arose.  The  increase  in  the  140  years  since  Wesleyanism  arose  in 
England  has  been  five  hundred  millions,  equal  to  more  than  one-third  of  the 
population  of  the  globe.”  Problem  of  Religious  Progress,  p.  59. 


27 


possible  among  subjects  otherwise  rebellious;  treaties  have  been 
secured;  commerce  established;  telegraphs  erected;  and  railroads 
constructed  in  many  a heathen  land,  but  the  head-light  of  a 
locomotive  never  shone  among  the  rocky  fastnesses  of  a single 
valley  where  the  beacon-light  of  the  Christian  missionary  had 
not  preceded  it.  So  manifest  are  these  moral,  social,  and  mate- 
rial results  that  the  governments  of  the  earth  have  entirely 
changed  their  relations  to  this  work. 

In  1820,  when  Mr.  J.  Garrett  arrived  in  Ceylon  to  establish 
a mission  press,  Sir  Edward  Barnes,  Lieutenant-Governor,  com- 
pelled him  to  leave,  saying:  “the  British  Government  is  abun- 
dantly able  to  Christianize  its  own  heathen,  and  Americans  had 
better  be  employed  in  converting  the  heathen  at  home.”44 

In  1852,  the  British  Government  in  India  paid  $3,750,000 
from  the  public  Treasury  to  erect  and  repair  idol  temples,  for  new 
idols  and  idol  worship.4^  In  1873,  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
India,  in  a report  to  Parliament,  complimented  the  work  of  the 
missionaries  in  terms  which  sound  strange  in  an  official  docu- 
ment. 

Every  Christian  government,  in  every  treaty  it  makes,  pro- 
vides for  the  protection  of  the  Christian  missionary. 

In  1871,  Lord  Lawrence  said:  “Notwithstanding  all  that 
England  has  done  for  the  good  of  India,  the  missionaries  have 
done  more  than  all  other  agencies  combined.” 

Lord  Napier,  Sir  Bartle  Frere,  Balbi  and  Carl  Rutter,  Her- 
schel  the  astronomer  and  Colton  the  cartographer,  Max  Muller 


44  History  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions.  Tracy. 

45  Report  of  Inter-Seminary  Mission  and  Convention,  1880.  Paper 
of  C.  M.  Cady. 


28 


and  Agassiz,  Drs.  Pickering  and  Peabody,  Prof.  J.  P.  Dana  and 
Commodore  Wilkes,  among  a multitude  of  others,  have  borne 
testimony  to  the  good  effects  of  missionary  labors.'*6 

Wealthy  Hindoos,  Parsees,  Mohammedans,  the  King  of 
Siam,  the  Turkish  Pasha,  and  innumerable  others  of  like  beliefs 
and  unbeliefs,  have  given,  and  given  liberally,  to  their  support, 
from  considerations  of  political  economy. 

Christianity  is  the  great  moral  force  of  the  world.  The 
Christian  civilization  controls,  to  a large  extent,  the  diplomacy, 
the  commerce,  and,  on  moral  and  international  questions  at  least, 
the  administrations  of  all  political  governments  of  the  age.-*? 

Christendom  is  peerless,  and  towards  Christian  nations,  by 
a pourer  at  once  invisible  and  irresistible,  are  directed  the  at- 
tention and  highest  aspirations  of  all  peoples. 

This  organization,  from  these  strategic  points,  with  these 
appliances,  and  this  prestige  is  advancing  to  meet  — what?  A 
demand  for  its  message,  a welcome  for  its  labor,  and  a belief 
in  its  final  victory. 

Human  philosophy  stands  condemned  for  inefficiency  by  its 
failure  to  advance  towards  or  construct  success  beyond  a cer- 
tain point,  and  if  Christianity  did  not  keep  her  temples  open,  the 
highest  outcome  would  still  be  an  altar  “to  the  unknown  God.” 
Mohammedism  is  a political  system  whose  expansion  is  by 
destruction  and  whose  developement  is  a stagnation ; but  it  is 


46.  After  his  experience  with  them  during  his  “Voyage  of  the  Beagle." 
Darwin  pronounced  the  Patagonians  to  he  a race  degraded  below  possibility 
of  improvement.  But  thirty  years  later,  learning  of  the  changes  wrought  by 
English  missionaries  there,  he  frankly  admitted  his  mistake,  and  became  a 
contributor  to  the  funds  of  the  South  American  Missionary  Society. 

47.  Dr.  R.  S.  Maclay. 


29 


monotheistic  and  iconoclastic,  though  sensual,  and  it  compels  all 
its  followers  to  read  the  Koran  in  the  Arabic.  The  power  ol 
Islam  in  Asia  has  been  broken  by  England.  F ranee,  by  its  pro- 
jected railroad  to  the  heart  of  Africa  and  consequent  occupancy, 
must  hasten  its  destruction  there.  It  antagonizes  heathenism 
wherever  it  exists  and  its  201,000,000  followers  have  become  ac- 
cessible to  the  truth  through  the  Arabic  translation  of  the  Bible. 
Its  symbol  has  passed  its  second  quadrature  and  is  hastening 
towards  obscuration  in  its  own  shadow,  while  the  bright  and 
Morning  Star  is  climbing  high  in  the  Orient,  never  to  be 
dimned  except  as  it  blends  its  beauty  with  the  bright  empyrean 
of  the  perfect  day. 

Idolatry,  like  a modern  Prometheus,  is  bound  to  the  rock 
of  history,  and  Christian  science,  art,  literature,  and  commerce 
are  tearing  its  very  vitals. 

Buddhism,  Taouism,  Shintoism,  Confucianism,  and  all  the 
false  systems  that  have  clouded  men’s  minds  and  held  their  souls 
in  bondage  are  giving  way,  while  Christianity,  with  undimmed 
luster,  is  advancing  “fair  as  the  morn,  clear  as  the  sun,  and 
terrible  as  an  army  with  banners,”  and  she  must  advance  from 
“conquering  to  conquer,”  for  “This  is  the  victory  that  over- 
cometh  the  world,  even  our  faith.” 

As  we  contemplate  thus  briefly  the  conquests  of  this  living 
faith,  let  me  ask  each  one  to  what  extent  does  cooperation  in  the 
effort  to  realize  and  spread  this  faith  justify  you  in  rejoicing?  Do 
you  expect  to  receive  the  plaudit  of  the  Master,  “Well  done, 
thou  good  and  faithful  servant,  thou  hast  been  faithful?”  God 
cannot  lie!  If  you  have  not  been  a good  and  faithful  servant 
according  to  opportunity,  He  will  neither  call  you  so  nor  re- 
ward you  as  such. 


3° 


Only  laborers  together  with  Him  in  the  work  can  be  joint 
heirs  with  Him  in  the  victory,  for  personal  faith  in  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  victorious  principle  that  overcometh  the  world. 


